Ishrat Husain is a Pakistani

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

who served as governor of the

State Bank of Pakistan The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is the central bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was nationalised and the scope ...

from 1999 to 2006, dean of the Institute of Business Administration from 2008 to 2016, and advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity from 2018 to 2022.

Early life and education

Ishrat Husain was born 1941 in

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. Husain's family relocated from Agra to Karachi in 1947 due to the partition of British India. He completed his early education in Karachi and later studied at the

Government College Hyderabad The Government College University Hyderabad (GCUH) is a public university located in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. History It was founded in 1917 by Annie Besant as ''Government College Kali Mori''. On its 100th anniversary in 2017, Government o ...

. He earned a degree in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

before pursuing further studies in chemistry at the

University of Sindh The University of Sindh (; ; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro in the Sindh province. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certified by ISO in 2 ...

, where he also participated in political demonstrations, including protests against

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

's One Unit Scheme. Husain developed an interest in

development economics Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural c ...

and sought further education through a government-sponsored program at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in the United States. He received his M.A. in

in 1972 from the Williams College and his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1978.

Career

After passing the civil service examination, Husain joined the

Civil Services Academy Situated in Lahore, Pakistan, the Civil Services Academy Lahore is an academy for the training of young bureaucrats who are commissioned by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) through a very competitive Central Superior Services exam, ...

in Lahore, graduating in 1964. His early assignments included administrative postings in various parts of Sindh, as well as in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

(in what was then East Pakistan). During this period, he witnessed significant political changes, including the 1969 unrest against Ayub Khan and the secession of East Pakistan in 1971. He later served on the One Unit Dissolution Committee, dealing with a policy he had previously opposed as a student. After completing his education at Williams College, Ishrat Husain returned to Pakistan and was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of the Finance Division in 1972, quickly advancing to Additional Secretary within a year. After earning his PhD in 1978, he was recruited by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, a transition influenced by his desire to engage more actively in global economic policy discussions during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. He worked initially as the country economist for

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. By 1982, Husain had left the Pakistani civil service to focus on his career at the World Bank. His roles included World Bank Representative to Nigeria, head of the Debt and International Finance Division, Chief Economist for Africa, and later, Director for Poverty and Social Policy. He also served as the country director for the Central Asian republics, a position that solidified his critical perspective on socialist economic systems. His notable assignments included work in Ghana during a period of political instability under President Jerry Rawlings. Husain's approach in Ghana was shaped by his experiences in Pakistan, using these to inform his economic advice amidst the nation's internal conflicts. In 1994, Husain became the

chief economist Chief economist is a single-position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of respons ...

for the

Asia–Pacific The Asia–Pacific (APAC) also Known as Indo-Pacific is the region of the world adjoining the western Pacific Ocean. The region's precise boundaries vary depending on context, but countries and territories in Australasia, East Asia, and Southea ...

region and between 1997 and 1999 headed the World Bank's operations in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. He ended his World Bank career in 1999, and was appointed the Governor of the

and remained until December 2005. In 2008, he was appointed the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of IBA Karachi, in 2015 he was awarded the

Nishan-e-Imtiaz The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (; ) is one of the state organized Civil decorations of Pakistan, civil decorations of Pakistan. It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or outstanding service for the country. However, the awa ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Mamnoon. He resigned as the dean of IBA in 2016, however remains the

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of the institute. During his tenure, IBA expanded from a solely business school to an

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

university. In 2016, Hussain joined the

Woodrow Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) or Wilson Center is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank dedicated to research and policy discussions on global issues. Established by an act of Congress in 1968, it serves as both ...

as a resident policy fellow.

Awards and achievements

* Jinnah Award (2005) for

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

to people as Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.DAWN (2006
Ishrat Hussain, late Akhtar Hameed honoured
1 May. Retrieved on 25 April 2008.

References

Publications

External links

Official website of State Bank of Pakistan IBA site profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Husain, Ishrat Living people 1941 births Governors of the State Bank of Pakistan Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz Indian emigrants to Pakistan Pakistani civil servants Civil servants from Karachi Williams College alumni Boston University alumni Executive Directors of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi